Irish TV presenter Gay Byrne got a bit of a shock recently when he asked Stephen Fry to describe what he'd say if he were to meet God. He asked Fry, imagine if heaven were real and Fry walked up to the pearly gates after he'd died and was confronted by God. "What would Stephen Fry say to it?" asks Byrne.

Fry then lays down why he thinks God, if it did exist, is a total a-hole. "Bone cancer in children?" he spits. "What's that about?" Before going on to question why he should have any respect for a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God that allows things like that to exist.

He then follows up with "The moment you banish him your life becomes simpler, purer, cleaner, more worth living in my opinion." He does, however, have a bit more respect for the classical Greek gods and goddesses of antiquity, saying they're imbued with human foibles and characteristics and so more relatable than an all powerful, omniscient, faultless being.

The interview was part of Gay Byrne's RTÉ One show The Meaning of Life.